Tag Archives: summer

Sometimes (read: all of winter) I’m like “ick, salad” and other times (most of summer) it seems like the most perfect idea.

This month – which how is it possible, that it is already half over?? – Sweetgreen, the as locally-sourced-as-possible, salad brain trust of local Georgetown grads that is taking the NE + MidAtl corridor by storm has figured it out, almost.

Their July Salad features mesclun greens, basil, peaches, slivered almonds, goat cheese and balsamic dressing. Normally, I’m a big fan of goat cheese, but on a whim (and because they were out) we swapped for white cheddar. This is a good move, I promise. The white cheddar offers an extra salt kick in an otherwise pretty close to perfect summer salad.

This is a great salad for dinner option, and also travels well as each component can be stored separately and then combined on site.

Frisee – I know this isn’t the salad green that most people gravitate towards but, this branchy leaf has the right amount of bite to stay strong with the fruits and vegetables that would typically overwhelm spinach or arugula. If you can’t get down with the frisee, I think a crisp romaine could also do the trick.

Corn – For this salad fresh is best and so if you have to use a can, I would skip it entirely. This is a great way to use leftover corn from a dinner earlier in the week. My favorite technique is to wash the ear and dry it and place it on a tin foil square with a small pat of butter, salt and pepper and then twist close the foil. Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees or throw it on the grill. For this salad, take a strong knife and shear the corn from the cob.

Strawberries – Wash, halve, quarter. Feel free to taste along the way. When in season strawberries are a favorite sweet snack.

Blueberries – Wash, dry, snack and set aside for salad.

Tomatoes – Wash, halve, sprinkle with a touch of Kosher salt and set aside.

Sunflower seeds – These added an awesome nutty, sunny warmth to the salad if you can imagine such a thing. When toasted (in a muffin tin) these erased the need for cheese or crouton toppings.

For the dressing, in a small bowl mix all ingredients and taste. I like my dressings a bit more acidic so I may use more vinegar than the next gal, so feel free to taste and modify. The goal is to keep it light and simple so that the dressing doesn’t overpower the salad.

When you’re ready to serve layer the toppings over the frisee and drizzle with the dressing. The bowl with be filled with bold, bright, natural and healthy colors.

When you’re done eating your body will be full from bold, bright, healthy foods!

If I am going to someone’s home I will always offer to bring something

I am a pie girl, I take the buttery, fruity, chocolatey, sweet, savory type over cake on nearly any day.

Okay, back to present, last Sunday an invite for Father’s Day and my sister-in-law’s mom’s birthday linner is sent out. It turns out my sister-in-law’s mom’s favorite dessert is Lemon Meringue Pie. Full disclosure, I have never made a meringue, I have never made a lemon pie, and I have actually never tasted a lemon meringue pie. Sounds good, I can do this. By Thursday the above mentioned really starts to sink in. By Friday I am actively looking for recipes (thank you http://www.epicurious.com). By Saturday I am grocery shopping, and by Saturday evening a panic is starting to settle in.

Sunday I bake.

Ingredients:Pie crust, you’ll get this recipe at another time. Because of the doubt I was feeling about the filling and the topping I went with a store bought. Homemade or store bought you’ll want to use pie weights (rice, beans, pie beads) and pierce the dough with a fork – like you might have done with a frozen tv dinner’s plastic wrap as a kid.Filling1 cup sugar

Make filling:In a heavy saucepan whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt and gradually whisk in water and milk, whisking until cornstarch is dissolved.

In a bowl whisk together egg yolks. Cook milk mixture over moderate heat, whisking, until it comes to a boil, this happens all of a sudden and the mixture is surprisingly thick.

Take the pan off the stovetop and gradually mix into the egg yolks, whisking all the while so that your eggs aren’t scrambled. Return egg and cornstarch+milk mix to the stove. Simmer mixture, whisking, 3 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter, lemon juice, and zest until butter is melted. Cover surface of filling with plastic wrap.

Make meringue:In a large glass or metal bowl with an electric mixer beat egg whites with cream of tartar and a pinch of salt until they hold soft peaks. Beat in sugar in a slow stream, beating until meringue just holds stiff peaks.

Pour filling into shell and spread meringue on top, covering filling completely, sealing it to pastry. I found it worked best to allow the meringue to lap up onto the baked pie crust. Draw meringue up into peaks and bake pie in middle of oven at 350 until meringue is golden, about 15 minutes.

Somewhere along these steps the first pie crust that I blind baked shrunk in the pan, do not forget to pierce the dough! So as I continued to mix, blend and whisk I snacked along the way on shrunken pie crust – it tastes just as good as you’d imagine, very.

The meringue was definitely the most intimidating, it’s very humid in DC (not good for flully egg whites) and after watching many episodes of Alton Brown I imagined it would be something you would have to learn how to make only from practice. Hah! Alton is such a good teacher, it worked! I just kept looking for the peaks. That’s them in picture #3.

Success! The pie was delicious, the meringue did shrink up a little bit and slide across the filling. So, while it didn’t look as picture perfect upon delivery as it did on the counter, it did get good reviews for taste. Things I would do differently next time: Put the meringue directly on the warm filling, this helps to set the egg whites; not drive 2+ hours before it gets served, this allowed the meringue to ride a slip and slide all the way there.